The veteran judge insisted that the choreography for Stacey Dooley's Viennese Waltz was not fair on the other dancers.

Craig claimed they had performed half a Viennese Waltz and half an American Smooth during tonight's competitive semi-final.

Giving his comments to the couple, Craig said: "I thought for me a dance of two halves. The first half American Smooth as well as a Viennese Waltz. The challenge in a Viennese Waltz is keeping the rotation going and keeping the same steps.

"I felt like that was cheating a little bit, however beautiful it was."

The pair got a score of 26 from the judges, with Craig giving a slightly harsh 8.

Stacey said: "I feel calm tonight. I don't want to get in a tiz. I want to enjoy the semi finals of Strictly. That's why I’m here."

On why his partner should be in the final, Kevin said: "We’re watching some of our dances back. Week One and Two were a bit ropey. We're getting Fours and Fives. Now we're doing 14 hour days and I've never seen such improvement from a celebrity partner."

Kevin was not very impressed (Image: BBC)

Strictly Come Dancing fans took to Twitter in shock after Craig's accusations.

One viewer said: "Craig did not just accuse Stacey and Kevin for cheating in that dance. If anyone is cheating it’s Ashley by just purely being in this show"

"Cheating is a terrible word, Craig. Totally unfair," another added.

However, some people did actually agree with Craig's criticism.

A third person said: "I agree with Craig for once, it definitely was cheating and not fair to compare to Joe who rarely got out of hold"